Hi writers,
I have a question. Six weeks ago I finished a first draft of a novel that took me a good three months to complete. The amount of chapters came to eighteen and it reached a lengthy 40k. Now, six weeks after, I have done a new outline for a second draft and have broken the 18 chapters into 51 instead. Now these chapters are smaller in size but still play vital to the story itself. I'm happy with it and only thought of what the reader-me would want, but the question is what would an agent be expecting when they ask for the first three chapters of a book? A lot of pages or would my few still count?
If you could help that would be great and I'd happily repay the advice :-)
Thank you guys :)
In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner had a chapter that consisted of, 'My mother is a fish.'
If that was one of the first three chapters of a novel, it would still tell a huge amount about that novel.
Your first three chapters have to fight above their weight when you're subbing to an agent or whoever, so every word, however many there are, has to count. They're looking for a story, a style, a hook, that special something that makes your work stand out from the rest. The length has to fit the story and the style.
Hi Theodore, I have been told that if you don't have em by the bottom of the first page you won't get em later!
I have been told don't forget so it may not be correct!
Regards and good luck with it it sounds like you are putting a lot of hours in. Paul.